Update on the back

And other things...

Yesterday (August 23) evening on the ranch. I'd just finished several hours of fence work with many miles walked and was feeling good-tired and satisfied. I was pretty babbly and quite possibly incoherent. I've had a lot of that of late but it seems to be easing as I work through the process.



A bit later, in town, I paused to video the smokey-cloudy evening sky. I was interrupted by the oinkers and my own mushy brain. I was (and continue to be) quite vexed by all the people who believe all the tee-vee news all the time. Worst fires ever? Why is it that so very many people can't/won't recall last August, and the August before, and the August before? Why do so very many people let the tee-vee operate their brains?



Breakfast of Champions; an olio of leftover kids morning scrambled eggs and lunchtime spaghettios. Which I bolted down before embarking on fence work. Yummy! Seriously!

On August 4 I had targeted injections of steroid into the areas of my lumbar spine which are home to the root causes of the radiculopathy I've been dealing with for a long time.

The injections were quite extensive and it took a few days for the trauma of the needle to fade, but the steroids seem to have helped a lot. It's nothing like a complete cure so far, but the reduction in symptoms is very good indeed.

I was finally able to get back to exercising on Saturday. The last real exercise session I'd had was on August 1 when I took the Tactical Rifleman's Challenge and humped 51 pounds of rifle, ammo, and gear five miles over prairie. That was a grinding toil and doing the hike in an hour and fifteen minutes was very hard work. I had a lot of pain but was able to fight through it and recover to very little pain quickly. That was good exercise, a good, smashing workout for my whole body, and an indication that my body continues to make accomodations and keeps on trying to heal the nerve pain problem. I've done my part by losing a hell of a lot of weight, eating a proper and supportive diet, and keeping fit.

On Saturday (August 22) I did another five-miler, this time sans rifle and gear. In the course of the hike I ran steps and sprinted (for certain values of sprinted) Smokebong Hill 11 times. The hill is a progressive slope that gets very steep toward the top and is two-tenths of a mile. So 11 sprints up and 11 walks down. I've mentioned this before but it's probably worth repeating; running uphill spreads the impact forces over time and across bone and joint geometry and articulation. This seems to reduce the pounding to a non-traumatic level while properly stretching and working feet and legs, hips and pelvis, and the spine. All of this seems to be good and helps reduce radiculopathy. I took some video of the workout but my phone flipped all the images. Not important, but I did want to share the smokey vista and an audiovisual representation of my feats of prowess (ha!).

In addition, I've been working on fence each day since Friday and I've got no shortage of that to keep me well occupied. Working on fence is very therapeutic; physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I'm very fortunate indeed to be able to have such a productive and useful outlet.

Anything better than a candy bar?

She loves "chocat canny bar" and loves to wash her hands after. The face takes a bit of work, but she's really into washing those hands. Such precious moments. Livin' life is grand when you slow it down to savor the beautiful stuff.



On the topic of sweets, I developed the habit of baking cookies for Allie and the kids. I have a great recipe for oatmeal-cherry-chocolate chip. With both white and dark chips. Allie loved them and of course the kids would hoover up a whole batch at a time if allowed. The cookies never lasted long, so I frequently made more.

Several weeks ago I took the empty container to my other house which is where I always baked. Never found the time to move my baking stuff to the new house. Anyway, a couple of days later Allie asked me if I'd washed the container yet. I hadn't, and me and my dumb ass thought she was concerned about my shoddy bachelor cleaning habits. This morning I found out why she had asked. It was an exceptionally precious moment of discovery.

Five hearts. Allie, three kids, me.

Be well and embrace the blessings of liberty.